Jackson Jambalaya

Holy COW! Is that thing ever UGLY!!!

Even the people in the illustration look ugly (and badly dressed, and generally not the kind of people you'd pay top Dollar to be around). Saggin' jeans? Really? Does someone think we'll want to "get in on the vibe" of some guy who looks like a total stranger to the Squat Rack, in saggy jeans? I mean really - their "hipsters" look more like meth addicts.

But that building looks like it got sucked-up by a Time Warp Vortex Tornado, which apparently hit a housing project in Minneapolis in 1959. And here it is, being spit out onto a treeless wasteland recently created in Formerly Fashionable Northeast Jackson (FFNEJ).

Saggy jeans? Where? It looks like people out on a Saturday dressed casually.

The only questionable meth addict here is you 1:16. It is a vast improvement from the previous building that was standing there.

1:16
That building isn't half as ugly as your soul. I tend to think you might be one of those people who would bi*ch if someone pooped out a gold brick because it wasn't divided into coins.

And don't worry, us hipsters will stay far away from the people in and around that building; we have better things to do like enjoying life.

Love this!!

So this means that the Harborwalk zombie has crawled onto land after destroying the Dock? What local institution is next on the menu?

1:16 -- we keep telling you --- worry about Madison where you pay taxes and live. Don't worry about Jackson. No vested interest here on your end. None of your business.

Are these truly going to be lofts or some more cracker box apartments found just about anywhere? There are some real lofts downtown but not many, maybe about 40 or so and they all have the stainless appliances, luxury countertops and islands....without the cheese.

I could only imagine the cost involved in attempting to recreate a true loft apartment in a new building. Lofts are an end result of someone having an artistic eye, deep pockets, a want to bring people back downtown, a truly unique building with certain characteristics and historical value at their disposal and some really big kahunas. I can count the local people who fit this mold on one hand.

Ted Duckworth has sold Jackson a bill of goods. The much anticipated upper-end condos have deteriorated into low-end apartments along with an extended stay motel. Imagine the crime that non-tax paying residents will bring to the area. How did this slip past everyone?

Teflon Ted is not one of the people to be counted on the hand. Those who are have their own skin in the game, not someone else's.

Last time I checked City View on State St. only had 3 or 4 tenants. It flopped big time.

City View was a joke from the beginning. To think that someone would pay $200,000 for a small condo with no parking and zero amenities in that location was ludicrous. The building has huge foundation issues and the developers were from Louisiana with no construction experience. These units don't even come close to being classified as lofts. Just another cracker box wanna be.

apartments are bad; condos good.Huge difference.

Depends on what your definition of apartments is.... Want to elaborate??

If Teddy had only sold yearbooks then he'd know a thing or two. Okay, gotta go now and pick up a Quiznos sandwich. Ta ta.

If I may quote from the Wikipedia's excellent page defining the word 'Loft', ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loft ):

"Real estate industry distinguishes between "hard lofts", which are former industrial buildings converted to residential or live/work use, and "soft lofts", which are loft-style residential buildings built entirely anew..."

'Hard' vs 'Soft'? I'm guessing these Eastover "lofts" are going to be pretty flaccid. In fact, the page may have to be updated to include a new category, necessitated by this development in Eastover: "After a Swim in an Icy Lake Lofts".

And I must note that nowhere in that Wikipedia page was a mention of 'Loft' being a synonym for EFFICIENCY APARTMENT - which may be what many of the units in this "amenity-rich" development actually end up being.

I doubt seriously the apartments will be "lofts". If they were, they'd be the size of at least 2 "apartments" around here.

Some of you apparently have no idea how absolutely ignorant you sound.

It's rather obvious that some of you don't know successful people who live in urban areas or else this living concept wouldn't be so foreign to you.

If you had a demanding career and social life, you'd understand that the convenience offered is very appealing.

Not everyone likes to spend hours of their day in a car! They don't consider that quality time.

Some don't want to spend their money on a lawn service or gardeners or pool maintenance or gym fees but would rather use that money to invest or travel. They also like the security such buildings offer. And, the entertaining opportunities in these spaces allow for much larger parties without wear and tear on one's furnishings.

This may not be a life style that suits you, but part of being a mature, reasonably bright grown up is realizing that what suits you doesn't suit everyone!

This is a low end apartment complex (rents start at a thousand bucks). And the good people of the neighborhood have sat on their hands. What will this look like 20 years from now? Does anyone ever ask that around here??

I did not realize that stainless appliances and kitchen islands were "new to the Jackson market." Will these apartments also have cutting edge amenities like central air and dial-up internet?

8:53, Apts are rental and condos are owned. Condos also usually own some common property. Most apt. dwellers live month to month while owners are in it for the long hall.

"Most apartment dwellers live month to month" This is what make apartments "bad" in your opinion 7:49/9:50? When you speak of loft apartments, which is what we're doing here, its a different story. There are numerous loft dwellers downtown who could buy your condo and your neighbors whom you share a zero lot line, hallway or a party wall with. They choose this lifestyle, they are not stuck in it. What a dip!

If these Lofts are so good then sell them.

Come on haters! Is this the best you got?

Why sell when you have passive income. You can always sell.So thankful most people don't get it otherwise everybody be doing it.

Safe to say, Jackson is a shit hole. Too many homeless allowed to run around. If you want to live downtown you have lost your mind. Been living around Jack town for over 40 years. Nothing has improved. Still run by corrupt ppl. Yea yea. you know what and who they are.

Ted Duckworth is a good guy. Good father good family man and it looks like a good businessman.

So many people who post on here only do so to be crucify others behind a fake name.

I am astounded at how absolutely clueless some of you are about urban living in this century.

This is simply open concept living with luxury amenities that is secure, has no hassle with maintenance or upkeep and has easy access to shops, restaurants, parks, medical care banking, etc.

Single adults with high paying jobs and the retired are very attracted to such spaces, and in this location, doctors will be pleased given the proximity to our 3 largest hospitals!

Apparently our marriage stats have escaped the notice of some of you so let me spell it out. Our divorce rate is higher and people are getting married later in life!

Some of you need to get over your negative attitudes. You are like the people who were afraid of cars and kept their mule!

Perhaps this will be the 'co-op' structure common to a lot of cities in the nation.

Apartments aren't all bad--Manhattan is full of overpriced ones that have 150 sq foot for 3k a month.

What holds our state back is the attitude that everyone has to be like me or else it wrong, immoral, stupid, or a waste of thought. You don't like Whole Foods? DONT GO. You don't like Jackson--DONT LIVE THERE. And don't complain that people go to WF or live in Jackson--just let them be happy with their lives--it does not have a bearing on yours.

7:25, does not apply to this market.This project is borderline at best.

To all of the confused:

If you want to see what a true "loft apartment" is, I recommend you check the November 2014 issue of Portico and go to the center spread. A prime example of a local loft apartment and it's high class "dweller" NOT living month to month. A stand up guy living in his element...and get back with us.

Don't bet on it 10:05. The truth hurts too much. 9:06 is so correct regarding the burbies obsession with all things Jackson.

We live here, love it, it ain't boring, has differing lifestyles and architectures, and they obsess with our happiness, so desperately trying to get us "unhappy"..... I am sure this post will prove it with smart ass rebuttals.

10:05 honey, we KNOW what lofts are, and what they're supposed to be. And we know all about the types of movers and shakers who live in those fine lofts.

We're just having serious doubts as to whether the project under discussion will actually contain lofts which are what they ought to be, and whether those units will attract loft-dwellers of the hoped-for calibre. Most of us have, time and again, have seen the ad hype announcing local developments, followed by the sad realities.

I am a great believer in WWJCD (What would Joan Crawford do?). And so I will paraphrase Our Saint Joan: Don't pluck with me fellas. This ain't my first time lookin' at an apartment complex.

Oh, and does anyone know if this hip-&-with-it amenity-rich loft community will feature masonry walls between units?

11:51, you left the hop out of hip-hop and the walls will be dry wall.

Anonymity seems to breed open stupidity.

Gents, a loft apartment is simply an apartment above retail or office space. It's derived from the word "loft" as in an attic or upper story of a barn.

A loft apartment doesn't have to be converted from something else AND an apartment can be owned by the individual.

Take a trip to a major metro or just google, since you likely can't afford the trip.

Apartments are rented and condo and co-ops are owned.

Are all of you rednecks this stupid?

apartments are owned and condos are rented and condos are owned and apartments are rented.

look up apartments for sale on trulia or the like

look up the definition of the words and/or look up how they are used in the industry.... basically, pull your head out of your exit cavity

From a development standpoint this is the best of a worst case scenario.

Ted would much rather have commercial space to lease as it brings a higher return on investment.

Fact is we have too much office space already. Ted is cannabalizing the market and has already lost other investments. His stake in this deal is very small too. Its a rough market.

Now are loft apartments or apartments for that matter such a bad thing? Not at first. But, in time if the property is not maintained, then undesirables move in (read thugs, unruly people, folks you dont want to live next to) and then its over.

I think its a bad idea to have a glut of rentals right there. It gives a certain time line for the death of that part of Jackson as it is currently known.

In short, smile and act like you love it...and sell the absolute shit out of your houses.

8:18--don't bring your pesky facts here. apartments are for the thugs, lowlifes, and undesirables. that's it--so says me, my wife, my pastor, and all my friends.

Great post, 7:27, except that it doesn't matter how well a property is maintained, where preventing an influx of undesirables is concerned. Careful renting practices help keep them out. High rents help, too. But, like you say, it's only a matter of time.

If there were masonry walls between units, one unit full of door-slamming, sound-system-thumping hoodrats might be ignored. But with nothing but sheetrock between units, and minimal mass floor-to-floor, one apartment full of 'creatures' means you get sudden vacancies on both sides of the 'creatures', and possibly, people living above and below them will be moving out, too. Easy noise transmission means that one bad apple QUICKLY spoils the whole barrel.

REAL lofts have foot-thick masonry walls between units, and floors of thick concrete (or wood members so thick they can withstand extreme loads, and thick enough that the outside of the wood can char in a fire, while maintaining adequate structural integrity. That's why REAL lofts are so coveted, and "Soft Lofts" ...not so much.

All you loudmouths know nothing of the construction. Just innuendo. Well podnuhs, I am one of the builders and you are all full of shit and are clueless as to the remedies in place regarding your "Jackson sucks and this does too" mentalities.

Suck an egg. See you in a few months with the nicest apartments in the state, and built to stay that way.

Oh, please, Mr. John Wayne at 3:48! Please feel free to give us SPECIFICS as to the construction details of these amenity-rich VICTORY MANSIONS in the sky.

As it is ... "podnuh", we only know that we've succeeded in getting your man-panties in a twist.

Please tell us about the thick masonry between units, the deliberately redundant sound-deadening strategies built into the floors... the slam-proof doors... the sound-muting slabs in the hallways. We're waiting...

3:48 There's not enough money in your budget to build the nicest apartments in the state, unless your referring to the cracker box apartments found just about anywhere. If that's the case your probably close to your goal. In no way can you afford to build a true loft apartment with new construction these days which was the topic here dumb ass...sorry podnah, and if I were you I'd remain anonymous.

Not a chance,5:49. Not a chance. 3:48 here. Hide and watch as the success of this project unfolds. Do your own homework, rookie.

You Jackson bashers are so rube and predictable. Do your own homework or wait and watch. Rookie.

Now wipe the red off of your neck.

6:35. Please learn the difference between your and you're. Makes your post read and seem very uneducated and therefore baseless. 3 times in one paragraph you rednecked the King's English. And it is PODNUH, not PODNAH, grit.

Oh! please forgive me 7:54. I thought this was a blog about a subject.I didn't realize it was a grammar lesson.I'll have to turn on my redneck spell check while i turn off my jerk off meter cause your sending it into the red.

It isn't working 7:48. You did it AGAIN. It would be you'RE, not your. Damned JPS.

If JJ is anything it is a haven for the spelling and grammar Nazis.

If JJ is anything, it is a haven for the spelling and grammar Nazis.

Here comes the monocled Generalfeldmarschall now.

11:00 your crazy. Your time is wasted hear. You would be better served spending you're time elsewhere!

Guess ole 3:48 ran off all the loudmouth ignoramuses.

grammar is the difference between knowing your sh*t and knowing you're sh*t....

Wow. Lots of misinformation in these comments.

An apartment refers to a living space ('housing unit') in a shared, multi-unit dwelling. Technically, "apartment" implies neither rental nor owner-occupied, just as the term "house" implies neither rental nor owner-occupied. An apartment could be ALSO be a condo or part of a co-op (or not).

A condo is an apartment that is held in ownership along with shared common property (such as the building parking lot, common hallways, the common building structure and property itself, etc.). For example, when one buys a condo, s/he is buying a particular housing unit, as well as a share of the building's common space, usually in the form of voter rights on building matters. Condos typically require HOA fees monthly to cover things like common area heating & cooling, landscaping, property taxes, etc. If the building were to need a new roof, for example, the condo association would vote to approve the charge, and then the condo association reserves (or HOA fee raise) would fund the new roof. Legally, typically, each unit ('condo') is worth "1 vote" (or its equivalent) in legal matters, such that in a 10-unit building, where one owner owns 3 apartments and the other units are each owned by separate owners, there would be 8 condo association members, with the 3-apartment owner getting 3 votes and the remaining 7 getting 1 vote each. Condo associations can, for example, legally lien and repossess units which are negligent in paying HOA fees.

A co-op is a building where the housing has been converted to shares and buying an apartment is technically buying a certain percentage of shares in the building. While in practical terms one is buying unit 4G, for example, in reality one is buying stock in the co-op, whose asset is the building. This is how, for example, a co-op is able to screen potential homeowners and subject them to nebulous "co-op interviews" without much scrutiny under Fair Housing Act regulations. . . . . in a legal sense, these folks are buying stock in a privately held company (though practically they're buying an apartment). The co-op also requires monthly "maintenance" fees for the building, though these typically are weighted by apartment size/premium, unlike a condo where the condo fees are typically flat and charged equally among all units, regardless of unit difference. (Co-op maintenance fees also typically are proportional to the 'stock' an owner has - in other words, how expensive/fancy their apartment is.....where as in a condo association, whether one has a studio 1 bedroom or a 3 bedroom penthouse, the HOA is typically the same).

Does that make sense?

SO...my guess is that these are going to be sold as condos.....although they should be careful in how they set up the original building bylaws.....very important and VERY difficult to change later!

--Signed, former Jacksonian who now lives in the "Big City" in a condo

"grammar is the difference between knowing your sh*t and knowing you're sh*t.... "

THAT BELONGS ON A T-SHIRT!

Like

Let's eat Grandma
Let's eat, Grandma

Grammar saves lives!

After reading some of these ignorant comments, I see why Mississippi is always at the bottom of every progressive list and at the top of every embarrassing list. I think new condos in Jackson are great, especially if there is an option to buy instead of constantly renting.